I’m not a heavy user of Ibotta (iOS, Android, would greatly appreciate if you use my referral code kfvxuq, which also gives you an extra $1), but I read a comment on Vinh’s blog informing him about a $5 rebate on $100 at Best Buy:
Source: milesperday.com
The post itself was a reminder to use Shopkick (my referral link) at Best Buy, which is another app I open frequently when I’m doing my MSing runs at Safeway, Target, and Simon Mall (all of these stores give points just for walking in; I don’t bother scanning UPCs) and when buying anything from Best Buy. But when I saw Amber’s comment, I quickly dusted off my Ibotta app and found the rebate for Best Buy. I had just bought JBL speakers at Best Buy exactly 6 days before (thanks Vinh and Forrest for your guidance), and Ibotta receipts must be scanned in within 1 week of purchase. My account already had $7.50 in rebates from 8-10 months ago, but you can’t cash out until you have at least $10, so my rebates have just been sitting in limbo and I didn’t really care because I couldn’t be bothered to monitor the app for new rebates that fit my purchases frequently. Anyways, I’ll definitely take an extra $5 off my JBL purchases as well as the ability to finally cash out after nearly a year, so I submitted my receipts for Best Buy and within 10 minutes, the receipts were OCR’ed and approved, and my account had $12.50. I cashed out to Venmo and received the funds instantly. Woohoo!
After that, I happened to be browsing the app out of curiosity, and the “Travel” category caught my eye, of course. I opened it and found two rebates in it:
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Orbitz: $10 rebate on $100 (hotels & vacation packages only)
To “unlock” the rebate, you first have to watch a short video about Orbitz and then click to read a quick fact about how Orbitz won the 2014 APPY Award for Best Travel App. Don’t need to do anything else, no need to click through to any links or other apps. It takes about 30 seconds to complete both tasks and unlock $5 from each task. After you’ve unlocked the ability to earn $10 in rebates, you then have to email a Redemption Link to yourself, which is akin to using a portal (so sorry, this probably won’t stack with any portal cashback). Your hotel or vacation purchase must then be made via the link.
Seeing as how we still need a couple hotels for our ‘dem flyers epic Down Under trip, hopefully the King of Orbitz (aka Daniel) will help us find some good uses for these rebates.
Hotwire: $15 off $150 (hotels only)
This Hotwire rebate is even easier to unlock. Just click on the two “Learn A Fact” badges and you’re done! Boom! 2 seconds!
After unlocking the two $7.50 rebate opportunities, they also require clicking through to Hotwire via a Redemption Link and making your purchase through the link.
Here are the details:
Both of these rebates expire on 10/20/15 at 12:00 AM (clicking through to buy via the Redemption Links).
With either of these rebate opportunities you will be able to instantly cash out after qualifying, since they are both over $10 (the minimum redemption threshold).
Payout is via Paypal, Venmo, or gift cards such as Best Buy, Starbucks, iTunes, Amazon, Sephora, Walmart (no apparent discounts by cashing out as a gift card, though). If you have Venmo, I recommend going that route for instant payout and cashing out to your bank account faster than Paypal.
I personally don’t find Ibotta to be a good use of my time otherwise, so I don’t go out of my way to use it or look for rebates. I have noticed that some of my friends on it have cashed out tens to hundreds of dollars, so they must be buying a lot of the products and groceries promoted by the app! If it works out for you that way as well on things you’re already buying, I’m glad I can help you save a few bucks here and there. 🙂